Michigan Players Prepared To Bounce Back Against Notre Dame

Michigan’s 28-21 setback at Penn State this past Saturday marked its second loss of the season. The defeat put the Wolverines in a tough position when it comes to the Big Ten East crown and likely eliminated them from College Football Playoff contention.

But that won’t stop them from getting up for this weekend’s game against No. 8 Notre Dame. The Irish will travel to Ann Arbor for the first time since 2013.

In typical Jim Harbaugh style, the Michigan head coach was brief at best and coy at worst when talking about Notre Dame at his weekly press conference on Monday, giving away very little in terms of his thoughts on this Irish football team.

“They’re really talented,” he said. “Offensively, defensively, they’re a really good football team.”

He said little else — though he did call out a fan for likely being drunk when criticizing wide receiver Ronnie Bell — but fortunately for fans and beat writers, his players were a little more open, at least when it came to preparing for this weekend.

“They’ve always had a good O-line and the quarterback is really talented, so just having to try and contain him,” Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye said. “We saw a glimpse of him last year, but he came off the bench.

“They’re a really good team, really disciplined and we’ll just have to come out and play our ball.”

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Even after falling to 5-2 against Penn State, Michigan players were optimistic about how they played a majority of the game. They believe they can carry it over to the matchup against Notre Dame this Saturday, a contest for which the Wolverines are 1.5-point favorites over the Irish.

“There were a lot of positive things on offense that we were able to do,” starting left guard Ben Bredeson said of his team’s effort at Penn State. “We had a ton of yards gained, some good success there at the end.

“I think you saw it out of that offensive unit that there’s no quit in anybody.”

Michigan actually out-gained Penn State in total yards 417-283. But that's a common occurrence for the Nittany Lions, who have been out-gained by their opponent infour out of their seven victories so far this season.

The Michigan defense also played much better in the final two and a half quarters against Penn State. The unit gave up three touchdowns in the first 23 minutes, but then held the Nittany Lions to just one score the rest of the game.

Needless to say, Michigan players are planning to play more like they did in the second half when they host Notre Dame this weekend.

“I feel like it’s going to be huge because Notre Dame is a really good team," Paye said. “Even though we lost [to Penn State], I feel like our offense found their mojo. I feel like the defense started to pick it up in the second half.”

This week, instead of balancing the rigors of high-level college football with top-notch Notre Dame academics, Irish players will be preparing for Michigan without having to go to class. This is thanks to Notre Dame’s week-long fall break, which could not have come at a better time for the football team.

Michigan, on the other hand, had their fall break at the beginning of last week, and it lasted for just two days. But that doesn’t mean Wolverine players won’t also try to find extra time to study up on Notre Dame, even if they have to do it when their professors are not looking.

“We’ve been watching clips here and there,” Paye said. “But starting today we’re going to [get in the] film room for hours and hours, and I’ll bring my iPad into class and watch some film in class.”

When asked if he was worried one of his professors might see him doing this, he seemed to shrug it off.

“I’m usually in the front of the class,” Paye said. “But if the teacher is watching a video or something I’ll just throw on the film, just want a couple of clips.”

While this matchup may not be on par with Notre Dame-USC or Michigan-Ohio State, it is still considered one of the best rivalries in college football. Michigan players know this as well.

“It’s a historic rivalry,” Bredeson said. “I think everybody loves the idea of Michigan and Notre Dame playing.”

But this game should have a little extra meaning for one Michigan player: sophomore Aidan Hutchinson, whose father, Chris, played on the defense side of the ball for Michigan from 1989-92.

“There’s a lot of tradition to it,” Hutchinson said. “We’re both very traditional teams. We have a lot of rich history, and it’s two of the top teams in the country playing under the lights at The Big House. The stadium can't get any bigger than that.”

His father was also immortalized for his part in the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry by one of the most popular sports magazines when he graced its cover after the two teams played in 1990. He wore number 97.

“He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the Notre Dame quarterback [Rick Mirer] scoring a touchdown and he was attempting to tackle him,” Hutchinson said. “Not the best [way] to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

“That one is in our basement.”

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